Since Scarlett got her drain out, I decided today is the day I
would start letting all 4 cats share all of the house. She's doing
well, and up until now I had wanted to keep at least her separated
from the others until she could heal, and put on some weight
without having to compete for the food. Just before I left for
work, I went around doing a "head count" just so I knew no one was
stuck in a closet or something. Went downstairs where I last saw
Shamrock, Scarlett and Rhett since they weren't upstairs. The only
one I saw was Rhett. And he was standing in front of the couch with
his tail fluffed up to 3x its normal size. Fur on his back all
fluffed up, too. First I called for Shamrock, didn't see him
anywhere. Then his head poked out from behind the sofa. He wouldn't
come out, and Rhett started stalking him, moving slowly toward him,
all puffed out. I got Shamrock out from behind the sofa, and *he*
was also puffed up as big as I've ever seen him. I started worrying
about Scarlett and started calling for her. She started emerging
from *under* the sofa (and there is only a little over an inch of
clearance!) and *SHE* was all puffed up! What is going on here, I
wondered?? I carried Shamrock upstairs, talking to him, and the
kittens followed. Once upstairs, everyone un-puffed and the kittens
rubbed up against him like they always do. I really wondered if I
should have left them all together, but I HAD to get out the door
to work because after this, I was already running late. Since they
seemed calm upstairs, I left. Came home, and everyone was fine. I
can only imagine that something scared someone downstairs, they
each thought it was one or the other who started it and all hell
broke loose. I sure hope this doesn't happen again!